Tolerating the intolerant: Does realistic threat lead to increased tolerance of right-wing extremists?

IF 1.8 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL

Journal of Social and Political Psychology Pub Date : 2022-03-16 DOI:10.5964/jspp.8017

Samantha Sinclair, Artur Nilsson, Jens Agerström

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Abstract

Previous research suggests that threat can bolster anti-immigration attitudes, but less is known about the effects of threat on ideological tolerance. We tested the hypothesis that realistic threats — tangible threats to e.g., the safety or financial well-being of one’s group — bolster support for right-wing extremists. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 200) learned that crime and unemployment rates were either increasing (high threat condition) or remaining the same (low threat condition). Consistent with our hypothesis, higher threat lead to a significant increase in tolerance for right-wing, but not left-wing, extremists. In a second, pre-registered extended replication experiment (N = 385), we added a baseline (no threat) condition. Additionally, attitudes to immigrants were examined as a mediator. This experiment produced non-significant threat effects on tolerance of right-wing extremists. Overall, the current research provides weak support for the hypothesis that realistic threats have asymmetric effects on tolerance of political extremists. However, consistent with previous research, people were more tolerant of extremists within their own ideological camp.

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宽容不宽容者：现实的威胁是否会导致对右翼极端分子的宽容度提高？

先前的研究表明，威胁可以增强反移民态度，但对威胁对意识形态宽容的影响知之甚少。我们检验了这样一种假设，即现实的威胁——对某个群体的安全或财务状况的切实威胁——会加强对右翼极端分子的支持。在实验1中，参与者（N=200）了解到犯罪率和失业率要么在增加（高威胁条件），要么保持不变（低威胁条件）。与我们的假设一致，更高的威胁会导致对右翼极端分子的容忍度显著提高，而不是左翼极端分子。在第二个预先注册的扩展复制实验（N=385）中，我们添加了一个基线（无威胁）条件。此外，对移民的态度也被视为一种中介。这项实验对容忍右翼极端分子产生了不显著的威胁影响。总的来说，目前的研究对现实威胁对政治极端分子的容忍度具有不对称影响的假设提供了微弱的支持。然而，与之前的研究一致，人们对自己意识形态阵营中的极端分子更加宽容。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Social and Political Psychology Social Sciences-Sociology and Political Science

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

4.80%

发文量

审稿时长

40 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal of Social and Political Psychology (JSPP) is a peer-reviewed open-access journal (without author fees), published online. It publishes articles at the intersection of social and political psychology that substantially advance the understanding of social problems, their reduction, and the promotion of social justice. It also welcomes work that focuses on socio-political issues from related fields of psychology (e.g., peace psychology, community psychology, cultural psychology, environmental psychology, media psychology, economic psychology) and encourages submissions with interdisciplinary perspectives. JSPP is comprehensive and integrative in its approach. It publishes high-quality work from different epistemological, methodological, theoretical, and cultural perspectives and from different regions across the globe. It provides a forum for innovation, questioning of assumptions, and controversy and debate. JSPP aims to give creative impetuses for academic scholarship and for applications in education, policymaking, professional practice, and advocacy and social action. It intends to transcend the methodological and meta-theoretical divisions and paradigm clashes that characterize the field of social and political psychology, and to counterbalance the current overreliance on the hypothetico-deductive model of science, quantitative methodology, and individualistic explanations by also publishing work following alternative traditions (e.g., qualitative and mixed-methods research, participatory action research, critical psychology, social representations, narrative, and discursive approaches). Because it is published online, JSPP can avoid a bias against research that requires more space to be presented adequately.